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Old 8th September 2009, 01:34 AM
Durban Durban is offline
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Join Date: Wed Jul 2009
Location: Durban, South Africa
Posts: 13
Default My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I am well experienced when it comes to growing Nepenthes, and i have not seen anything like this before. My N. mirablis var. echinostoma produces a thick salty discharge from the peristome. I noticed this and tasted it, expecting nectar, but it didn`t taste sweet at all, instead it was distinctly salty. The plant grows and pitchers very well, producing a pitcher on every leaf. I don`t ever fertilise and the plants get RO water with a TDS of 0, so it can`t be any type of chemical or mineral. I removed the salty "nectar" and it returned within a few days.

I have not heard of Nepenthes producing this type of salty discharge, i wonder what it would be used to attract? I have attached an average snapshot to show the health of the lower pitchers. Ideas anyone?

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